The importance of keeping the submerged portions of a boat's hull free of marine growth lies in the fact that the growth causes hull drag which results in slowing the boat's passage through water.
At the present time, there are in general practice, two methods for removing unwanted marine growth from the submerged portions of boat hulls. The first is to remove the boat from the water by means of a hoist, trailer or by beaching. The patent applied for here does not concern boats which have been moved to dry land and this common method of attaining access to a boat's hull for cleaning is mentioned only because it is inconvenient, time consuming and in the case of using a marine hoist, costly.
The second commonly employed method is for a diver to swim beneath the boat and clean the hull by means of a hand held brush or other abrasive material. This method when employing professional divers can be costly and in any event is time consuming. This method is mentioned here because it is the function of the present invention to perform the same scrubbing action without the necessity of having a diver enter the water.
The device of the cross-referenced application is a three-layered device for use by a single person from aboard ship or dock side. It is desirable to produce a one man hull cleaning device which has as few parts and is as lightweight as possible. The present invention is believed to be such a device.
In accordance with the present invention there is shown a one man, manually operable boat hull cleaning device. The device includes a flexible, buoyant base with at least one polygonally shaped continuous surface. The material of the base is selected to substantially retain its surface dimensions in both tension and compression created by manually applied forces. In addition, a scrubbing material is affixed to a surface of the base to perform the removal of marine growth from the hull of the boat. Further there is a grasping means affixed to the base for manually imparting movement to the device in both tension and compression.